


God of Thunder

by Adolphus Longestaffe (adolphus_longestaffe)



Series: They Are Venom [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Canon Gay Relationship, M/M, Pansexual Character, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 08:26:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17597792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adolphus_longestaffe/pseuds/Adolphus%20Longestaffe
Summary: On their first day as official Avengers (sort of), Eddie and Venom become acquainted with a much older member of the team.





	God of Thunder

 

 

 

 

“Klyntar!” the god of thunder says, as he strides rapidly to meet them, keeping his gaze fixed on the hulking, slick-black tower of muscles and fangs that looms beside Natasha.

“ **Asgardian** ,” Venom rumbles warily, flicking and curling his serpentine tongue.

Much to Venom’s discomfiture, Thor throws back his head and laughs, clapping them heartily on their massive shoulder. “I’ve not seen one of your kind in many ages! Hey, you guys aren’t here to invade again, are you?”

Venom’s opal-white eyes narrow. “ **No guys are here. No others like me**.”

“That’s a relief. Wouldn’t want another incident, would we,” Thor says with a wink. “Hey, Natasha, how’s it going?”

“Can’t complain,” Natasha shrugs. “Thor, this is Venom. He’s a special contractor helping me out on a project.”

“Thor Odinsson,” the Asgardian says affably, holding out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Venom. Cool name, by the way.”

Venom doesn’t appear to understand the gesture, so Eddie takes over and reaches out to shake Thor’s hand. Thor. Like he’s a person and not a literal Norse deity.

“So, who’s the lucky meatbag you’re riding around in?” the deity in question asks, eyeing them up and down. “It’s not Stark, is it?”

“ **Would not touch Tony Stark to tear out his lungs** ,” Venom hisses. “ **Only ride around in Eddie**.”

“The human host’s name is Eddie Brock,” Natasha explains. “They have…a complicated history with Tony.”

“Well, who doesn’t,” Thor says, still smiling up into Venom’s demonic face.

“Since you’re here, maybe you could help us out,” Natasha says. “We were just going to do Venom’s physical examination and combat eval. You feel like taking a few punches for science?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Thor says. “You look like a warrior, Klyntar. Have you ever fought an Asgardian?”

“ **Only fight bad guys. And Spiderman once**.”

“Spiderman? Isn’t he, like…a child?”

“ **Child, yes. But very strong**.”

“How did you find yourselves tangling with him?” Thor asks, as they follow Natasha toward the medical building.

“ **Saved sick human women from traffickers. Also saved him. He attacked us anyway. Would not listen**.”

“Ah. You didn’t hurt him too badly, did you?”

“ **Did not want to hurt him. Ran away**.”

“Hey, Venom,” Natasha interjects, pausing a few yards away from the double-doored entry. “You probably shouldn’t walk into the lobby like that.”

Thor watches delightedly as Venom’s oily bulk peels away and retracts inside Eddie’s tall and broad-shouldered, but much smaller human body, morphing seamlessly into his black jeans, t-shirt, and boots. Eddie nods awkwardly to Thor, who he can hardly bring himself to make eye-contact with, and they continue into the building.

**Eddie, your heart rate is elevated. You are afraid?**

_No, V, I’m just nervous. Thor’s a big time superhero. He’s a literal Norse god, too. Like, I learned about him in high school._

**What is high school?**

_It’s…I’ll explain later. I want to hear what they’re saying._

Natasha is speaking to a man at the front desk, who leads them into what looks like a high-tech lab from a futuristic television show. The examination room is essentially a transparent cube composed of four glass walls, a lot of shiny equipment Eddie can’t identify, and some semi-transparent, flat-screen monitors extending on swivel arms attached to the ceiling.

After a few minutes, a woman in a white coat appears, and instructs Eddie to stand on a black rubber square. Natasha and Thor step out and stand near the glass, chatting together, as the woman scans Eddie’s body from head to toe with some kind of rectangular device. On the monitor beside him, Eddie sees a digital map of his body materialize, alongside some relevant physical details, including his heart rate and body temperature, height (6’3”), weight (241 lbs) and body fat percentage (8.2 %).

The white-coated woman smiles and taps her tablet’s screen. “Very good, Mr. Brock. You are in excellent health.”

“And I look pretty great, too, right?” Eddie grins, patting his taut abdomen as if it’s a beer gut. “I knew all that junk food and not workin’ out would pay off.”

The woman smiles politely and taps her screen again, causing a blank display to pop up beside Eddie’s. “Alright, we just need a scan for Venom, and we’ll be all done.”

“Ok,” Eddie says hesitantly. “Uh, stand back a little.”

She steps back a few paces as Venom emerges, enveloping Eddie’s body inside his slick-black bulk, looming above her as he transforms.

“Perfect,” the woman says, sounding admirably cheerful, despite the tremor in her voice. “This will just take a second.”

She runs the device over Venom’s towering frame—from noticeably further away than she had done with Eddie—then taps it a few more times. As Venom retracts inside again, his digital map appears on the screen beside Eddie’s. There are no readings displayed for heart rate or body temperature, but Eddie can see his height (7’6”) and weight (795 lbs).

“Seven-hundred and ninety-five pounds?” he exclaims. “Holy shit, Venom’s heavy as fuck. Wait, if he’s keeping all that in my body, shouldn’t I weigh as much as him?”

“It appears that your symbiotic organism is capable of spontaneous mass generation,” the woman says, shaking her head in awe. “I’ve ever seen anything like it.”

“Yeah, well, you’re lucky. Most people don’t see a thing like him and walk away.”

“It’s a remarkable creature, Mr. Brock. Sustaining its nutritional needs must require enormous caloric intake. How do you feed it?”

“Him,” Eddie corrects curtly. “And we eat people. Or was that not clear in our file?”

“Right,” the woman says, laughing uneasily. “Well, that’s all we need from you today. I’ll go and let agent Romanoff know you’re all hers. It was…nice to meet you, Mr. Brock.”

Eddie chuckles to himself as she hastily exits the exam room, pauses to say something to Natasha, then disappears down the hall. Thor gives Eddie a thumbs-up through the glass, and Natasha holds up a “one minute” finger. While he waits for them to finish talking, he strolls around fiddling idly with the lab equipment, and mostly trying not to look as if he is watching them.

**Still nervous, Eddie?**

“Yeah, a little. So, uh…what do you think of Thor?”

**Think you are thinking of him very much.**

“I mean, maybe,” Eddie says, feeling his ears flush with heat. “I can’t help being kinda starstruck.”

**What is starstruck?**

“It’s like, when someone’s super famous and amazing and when you’re around them you forget how to talk and can’t figure out what to do with your hands.”

Venom contemplates this for a moment.

**Do not get starstruck. Do not know anyone super famous and amazing.**

“Well, you do now. You know Thor.”

**He is powerful.**

“No shit. You see that thunderstorm thing he did when he landed? Fuck, I wish we could do cool shit like that.”

**Do not need thunderstorm to be cool.**

Eddie can’t help but laugh at Venom’s sulky tone. “Aw, what’s wrong babe? You jealous?”

There is a long pause.

**Yes.**

“Well, don’t be. I’m not into guys.”

**You are.**

“No, I’m not.”

**I am a guy.**

“Yeah, but you’re not human. I’m not into human guys.”

**Thor is not human.**

“I guess not,” Eddie says, biting his lip. “It doesn’t matter what he is, though, ‘cause I’m only into you, ok?”

**Ok, Eddie.**

There is another pause.

**But you are sexually attracted to male humans.**

Eddie sighs resignedly. “Ok, V, you got me. I’m into men. You happy?”

**Hungry.**

“So yes, then.”

**Yes. But need food. Want to go fishing.**

“I know, baby, just hang in there for the rest of this examination thing. We’ll ask Natasha about it as soon as we’re done.”

**Want to do examination. Want to fight Thor.**

Eddie casts a surreptitious glance through the glass at the tall, muscular Asgardian and swallows hard. “He’s, uh…he’s stronger than us, isn’t he.”

**Much stronger. A power.**

“What if he kills us?”

**Would be a good death. But he will not.**

“How do you know?”

**Nat will not let him.**

“Oh, I forgot, it’s Nat now. Cause you two are best buds.”

**Jealous, Eddie?**

“Listen here, slimeball—” Eddie begins, but immediately shuts his mouth, as Natasha opens the door at that moment.

“Hoo, big boy,” Thor says, looking over Venom’s scan, then Eddie’s. “You’re in good shape too, Eddie.”

“Good shape is an understatement,” Natasha frowns. “Eddie, how do you maintain eight percent body fat and all that muscle mass? I’ve never seen you exercise or eat anything even remotely healthy.”

“You’ve seen me climbing all over buildings and fighting Spiderman,” Eddie returns indignantly. “That shit ain’t easy.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you do it as Venom. Not as Eddie Brock, former reporter and enthusiastic beer drinker. You’re built like an Olympic athlete.”

“Enthusiastic beer drinker, eh?” Thor says, eyeing him approvingly. “Man after my own heart.”

Eddie’s face flushes crimson. “Yeah, I’ve been known to enjoy a beer or two. I don’t know why Natasha’s gotta bust my balls about it, though.”

“Sorry, Eddie,” Natasha says, with a smirk. “Didn’t mean to embarrass you in front of the biggest drinker ever.”

“I am not the biggest drinker ever!” Thor contends. “Or…well, Loki did set up this drinking contest once, to trick me into trying to drink the Atlantic ocean, but I didn’t succeed. Eddie could probably hold his own with me, anyway, with the Klyntar regulating his metabolism.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Eddie mutters, looking at his feet. “I guess that’s a fringe benefit of being his rent-free apartment.”

“Any time you’d like to test yourself, you will find me ready to the challenge,” Thor grins. 

Eddie blinks at him, uncertain whether this is meant for mockery, but before he gets a chance to work it out to a satisfactory conclusion, Natasha is herding them out of the lab for the next part of the test.

A few minutes later, they are standing outside, in the middle of an open area Natasha calls a training yard, which is about the size of a football field and is covered in similar springy turf. Lined up at one end, are a dozen or so steel blocks, ranging in size from coffee table to freight container.

“This part is pretty self explanatory,” Natasha says. “Just lift the heaviest one you can. It’s not exact science, but it gives us a general baseline for the strength of our superhumans. Thor can spot you, so you don’t get crushed if something goes wrong.”

Venom emerges as directed, still grumbling internally about his hunger. Eddie is distracted by his grousing, and by the proximity of the Asgardian, who stands nearby offering hearty encouragement, and so isn’t fully aware of what they’re doing until he suddenly feels their body straining beneath an immense weight. Venom, apparently, has bypassed the smaller blocks and begun somewhere near the middle. They successfully lift the first they try, then another. The third, they can move, but can’t quite manage to lift off the ground.

“Ok, looks like twenty-five,” Natasha says. “Good job, Venom.”

“Twenty-five?” Eddie asks, as Venom sullenly retracts.

“Twenty-five tons,” Natasha clarifies. “That was the heaviest block you lifted.”

This is frankly astonishing to Eddie, but appears to amuse to Thor.

“Hey, twenty-five tons is pretty good,” Eddie says, feeling self-conscious and thus a bit defensive. “How much did you lift, when you did this?”

“I didn’t do it at all,” Thor says, still smiling as if it’s the only goddamned expression a face that perfect can produce. “But I did punch a planet out of orbit once.”

“Oh,” Eddie blinks. “Well, fuck.”

“Technically twice, but the second one was an accident,” Thor says, then laughs, seeing Eddie’s baffled expression. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.”

As he says this, he claps Eddie on the back in a companionable fashion. Not being protected by his symbiote this time, however, Eddie is knocked flat on his face by the well-intended gesture.

“Oh, Eddie, I’m so sorry,” Thor says, hurrying to help him up. “Are you hurt?”

“Nah, I’m ok,” Eddie pants, as he is pulled to his feet. “Nothin’ bruised but my ego. And bones.”

“Thor, please don’t break my contractor,” Natasha sighs. “He already signed his paperwork. I’ll have to give him paid recuperative leave.”

“I really didn’t mean to,” Thor says, steadying Eddie with a hand on his shoulder. “I forgot how fragile he is when he’s not wearing the Klyntar.”

This embarrasses Eddie further and he pulls away a little too abruptly, which he instantly regrets. Thor doesn’t appear to notice, but he feels like an ass anyway, and is morose and withdrawn as they follow Natasha to their next task.

On the first floor of gym, there is a spacious arena with mats on the floor, somewhat like one would find in a martial arts studio. Natasha explains that the hand-to-hand will last fifteen minutes, and will be recorded for analysis, then she steps into a windowed observation room to begin the recording. Thor and Eddie clasp hands, after the manner of gladiators preparing to engage in a bout, then Venom reemerges and they adopt their customary fighting stance, crouched and coiled to strike. Thor stands there, still goddamned smiling, and looking effortlessly cooler than Eddie could ever hope to be.

The second Natasha calls start, Venom launches them into action, hurling their heavy body forward with blinding speed, right into the immovable object that is the Asgardian. They collide with his arm, raised at the last second to parry the attack, and fall back, stunned. Even beneath his living armor, the impact shakes Eddie down to his bones, but his other is already throwing them back into the air, moving with the grace and swiftness of a jungle cat.

While no match for Thor’s strength, Venom is an extremely skilled opportunistic predator, and manages to distract him by rolling aside and whipping strands of black webbing at his face, which gives them the opening to sweep Thor’s legs out from beneath him. Thus encouraged, Thor seizes hold of their arm and sends them sailing into the concrete wall with a heavy thud, leaving a visible crack in the surface.

As promised, however, he does go tolerably easy on them, and even appears to be thoroughly enjoying the whole thing. He allows Venom to land some solid blows, and only pins them down two or three times. At the end of the session, Eddie is soundly rattled, but none the worse for wear. The symbiote, however, seems alert and energized, and even appears to have forgotten about food for the moment.

“You really come alive when we fight, huh?” Eddie asks, as they stand under the steaming water in the men’s shower room.

Venom snakes out black tendrils, carding them through Eddie’s wet hair as he turns to rinse his back.

**Like fighting. Feels good.**

“Yeah, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Eddie says. “I mean, taking a beating from the god of thunder, and all.”

**Did not kill us.**

“Nope. I guess your buddy Nat does want us alive for now.”

**He is the big guns.**

“They don’t come much bigger. Except maybe Hulk.” Eddie rubs his chin musingly. “Hey, do you think I should let my beard grow out a little? I’m…sick of shaving all the time.”

Several of Venom’s tendrils come around to caress his face.

**Yes.**

Once they’ve finished their shower and toweled off, Venom reforms himself into Eddie’s usual clothing, with the addition of a black motorcycle jacket, which is Eddie’s idea. Natasha had instructed them to meet her outside the training building, so she can show them their temp lodging, and take them to get something to eat. Much to Eddie’s surprise, it is Thor, not Natasha, who is waiting when he steps out the door.

“There you are, my friend,” the absurdly handsome superhuman says, smiling handsomely. “Natasha went to attend to…something, I don’t recall what it was. I hope you don’t object to my company for a while.”

“We—yeah—no,” Eddie says, immediately failing to appear cool and casual. “I mean we don’t mind. I guess I’m just wondering why you’d want to hang out with us. Don’t you have, like, important shit to do?”

“Of course I do,” Thor says, crossing his arms on his chest. “Many important things. I _am_ the prince of Asgard. I have a great responsibility to the…universe. I simply thought you might be in need of someone more familiar with the place to show you around. And I haven’t had a chance to speak with a Klyntar in a long time.”

“Oh, right. You know about Venom’s…people, or whatever they are.”

“Not everything, but I’ve come across them before. Here on Earth, in fact. There was this whole thing where they attempted to invade and enslave humanity, but we worked it out. It’s actually a very funny story.”

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie says, taken aback. “Venom wasn’t—”

“No, no. He’s much too young to have been part of that.”

“Too young…” Eddie repeats. “Fuck, I just realized I don’t even know how old he is.”

Thor eyes him curiously. “I get the feeling there are a lot of things you don’t know about your Klyntar friend.”

“I guess I don’t,” Eddie admits. “I mean, I know a lot about him personally, but not his species or anything. I didn’t even know they were called Klyntar till you said it.”

“To be fair, Klyntar isn’t the proper name for their kind, but it sounds a bit nicer than ‘living void’.”

“Living…void?”

“It’s a rather long story, Eddie. Are you guys hungry?”

**Hungry, Eddie. Want fish.**

“Yeah, uh…Venom wants fish. He’s been on about it all day. It’s just that he needs them alive.”

“Fish?” Thor scratches his beard thoughtfully, and Eddie nearly dies of envy. “I believe there are fish in the river, but I have no spears or…nets, or whatever people use now.”

“I think we’ll be ok without ‘em,” Eddie smirks.

“Well, then, fishing it is! Oh, but if there is some rule against it and we get into trouble, I am blaming you.”

“Deal.”

When they reach the shore of the river, Venom’s black bulk swallows Eddie’s body and he takes over immediately, crouching at the waterline and appearing to scan the surface.

“See anything interesting?” Thor asks, kneeling beside them.

“ **Fish** ,” Venom rumbles. “ **Small, but many**.”

Thor rubs his hands together eagerly. “Alright, what’s the—”

Venom leaps headlong into the dark water.

“—plan.”

Thus answered, their Asgardian companion watches from the shore for as long as he can see them, but the river is deep and Venom is an accomplished swimmer, and they quickly vanish from his sight. After a few minutes, he picks up some small rocks to attempt to skip them across the surface, but quickly tires of their refusal to do so, and drops the rest in disgust.

He is just beginning to wonder if he should go in after his new friends, when Venom’s leering head emerges from the water, followed shortly by the rest of his body. He splashes up to the bank and drops a bulging net of black webbing. It falls open as he crouches over it, revealing a sizeable heap of flopping, silver-scaled fish.

“Impressive, my friend!” Thor laughs. “Oh, no thank you. I prefer mine a little less…alive.”

He sits cross-legged on the ground beside them, watching with engrossed interest as Venom sets about enthusiastically devouring his long-awaited catch.

“You guys are really something,” he says, as Venom swallows a fish whole. “How does Eddie like eating live fish, Venom?”

“ **Eddie does not like it. Eddie likes when I am happy**.”

“And you like when he’s happy.”

“ **Yes. Feels good** ,” Venom says, swallowing another. “ **Brain makes good chemicals**.”

“It must be nice having someone who’s always there for you. You know. Never being alone.”

Venom turns his opal-white eyes upward, into the deepening blue of the sky, where the faint glittering of stars is emerging as the sun lowers beneath the western horizon.

“ **Cannot be alone** ,” he says. “ **Alone means death**.”

“How did you wind up by yourself, here, on Earth?”

“ **Do not know. Remember falling. Remember…Eddie**.”

“Do you remember anything about being with the hive? With your people?”

“ **Some things. Many voices. The will of the thousands. Wish little one could go to them**.”

Thor frowns. “Little one?”

“ **Little one like me. Ours. Mine and Eddie’s**.”

“You two have a child?” Thor says, flabbergasted. “That is wonderful, congratulations!”

“ **Had** ,” Venom says, in his same deep, growling voice, but Thor can instantly hear Eddie in it. “ **SHIELD took us. They tore us apart and held us captive. Our baby died**.”

Thor looks as close to gut-punched as Eddie thinks is probably possible for him. For a long moment he doesn’t respond. He just turns his head and gazes out over the river.

“I am sorry for your loss,” he says at last, in a subdued tone. “I would have spoken more carefully, had I known.”

Eddie has already withdrawn and submerged himself, finding the conversation too painful to continue, so Venom answers.

“ **You could not have known** ,” he says simply, as he retracts his empty net. “ **Humans who took little one’s body will die. Then we will have peace**.”

Thor looks up at him. “I thought it died when you were taken by SHIELD. Is it not with them?”

“ **Was. Others took it. We will go with Nat and take it back**.”

“That’s what you’re doing here,” Thor says, finally grasping the entire picture. “You’re helping them recover your child’s body, which was stolen from SHIELD.”

“ **Yes. Eddie’s pain is great. Too great to carry. Must get little one back. Let him say goodbye**.”

Thor turns away again, as an expression like pain flickers across his handsome face. “That is a heavy burden, indeed. I hope you find what you seek.”

“ **You have lost one you loved**.”

“My mother. She was killed…recently.”

“ **We wish death upon her enemies** ,” Venom says, using the most sympathetic terms he knows.

“Thank you,” Thor says gravely, clasping their huge, clawed hand. “I wish death upon yours, as well.”

They walk back toward the complex together in the deepening twilight, and the companionable silence produced when comrades bond over shared tragedy. Venom retracts as they approach the entrance, and Thor lays a hand on Eddie’s shoulder.

“What say we have that drink now, my friend. I think we could both use one.”

“Yeah, or ten,” Eddie, says with a grateful nod. “Lead the way.”

They enter the residential complex Natasha had pointed out earlier, and take an elevator up to the roof, where Thor says there is a lounge. The place looks like a cross between a living room and an upscale bar with a lot of modern-looking couches and easy chairs, as well as the usual tables and barstools. The place is cheerfully lit and appears to open, but there is no bartender present, and no other patrons. Thor explains, as he goes behind the bar to fill two pint glasses with some kind of ale from a tap, that a bartender is only employed for parties and the like. Otherwise, the bar is kept stocked for the residents, but the policy is self-service.

It is in this way that Eddie finds himself having gone from unemployed and living in an illegal tenement apartment above a grocery store this morning, to being a contracted member of the Avengers and sitting casually in a bar with the actual god of thunder this evening. He steels himself against the thrill he feels at this realization, and reminds himself that they are here against their will, and only doing this to better place themselves to take their revenge on SHIELD. But there’s no harm in enjoying the fact that one is hanging out with Thor, which is not a thing one has the opportunity to do every day.

Thor sets down the two pint glasses and seats himself beside Eddie at the bar. Venom immediately snakes his head out, as he does when he wants to be included in the conversation, and hovers near Eddie’s shoulder. This doesn’t faze Thor in the least, who merely smiles his greeting to the leering, black face, with its opalescent eyes and mouth full of razorblades.

“So, Eddie, what were you doing before you hooked up with the Klyntar?” he asks, after a deep draught his ale. “Natasha mentioned journalism?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nods. “I was an investigative journalist, back in San Francisco. Nothing too exciting.”

“But you come from New York.”

“How could you tell?” Eddie says, with an exaggerated Brooklyn twang. “I was born here. Went to school here. Got fired from my first real reporting job here, and then followed my ex to the Golden State. I did well and even had a TV show for a while. Things were pretty good. Then I got myself fired, got her fired, she dumped me, and I went to work going into debt and drinking myself stupid.”

“Sounds rough,” Thor says. “But then this little charmer turned things around for you.”

“He did. When I met V, everything changed. He’s…the best thing that ever happened to me.”

At this, Venom coils around and butts his forehead affectionately into Eddie’s neck. Eddie reaches up and absently strokes his slick-black skin as he sips his ale.

“You two are bonded then?” Thor asks.

“ **Yes. Bonded. Like marriage**.” Venom answers, since Eddie’s mouth is currently full.

“Oh, it’s a romantic thing,” Thor says, raising an eyebrow. “Kinky.”

Eddie nearly chokes on his beverage and turns away coughing and sputtering into a napkin, which elicits a hearty laugh and a (much more careful) slap on the back from the Asgardian.

Venom cocks his hovering head to one side. “ **Kinky**?”

“Hey, no judgement from me,” Thor says. “I used to date a human, myself.”

“ **You are sexually attracted to humans**?”

“Who isn’t?” Thor says with a wink, raising his glass.

“Wait, what?” Eddie says, having mostly recovered from his brush with drowning on dry land. “Are humans popular with…aliens?”

“Well, for a long time it was considered a fringe thing,” Thor says. “Like an extreme kink. But then they were added to the Intergalactic Register of Sentient Species, and it became less frowned upon. Now it’s a sort of status symbol, to be honest.”

Eddie raises his eyebrows dubiously. “A status symbol?”

“As long as one doesn’t flaunt it excessively. Having more than five or six in your retinue would be ostentatious.”

“Why would…why?”

“Earth is a long way from most inhabited planets, Eddie. Not many can get all the way out here to pick one of you up. Then there’s all the expense of caring for one once you’ve got it. Humans are vulnerable to things like lack of oxygen and extreme temperatures, and you can only live on very limited diet.”

“You’re, uh…making us sound like pets,” Eddie says, laughing uneasily.

“No, no,” Thor assures him. “Not anymore.”

“Anymore?”

“Remember, you weren’t considered a sentient species for a long time. So, it was the kind of thing where you’d show up home with a bunch of human pals and your father would say, ‘No way are we keeping those in the house,’ and your mother would be like ‘Oh, honey, he’s already named them, he’ll be heartbroken,’ and your father would go, ‘Fine, but he’s responsible for taking care of them, and you’re the one who has to explain it to him when they die,’ and then you’d feed them and go on adventures with them and grow to love them, until eventually they…taught you a valuable life lesson about impermanence and loss.”

“But we’re not kept as pets now,” Eddie says, bewildered.

“Not at all. Mostly not at all. It’s illegal on most systems now, at least.”

“And you dated a human?”

“I did. She, uh—we broke up. It was mutual.”

“ **You prefer female humans to males**?” Venom asks, earning a look from Eddie.

“Either,” Thor shrugs. “I’m not all that particular about gender. Humans certainly seem to be, though. Did you know they’ve invented a whole separate term for people who have sex with people of the same gender? Have you ever heard of something so ridiculous? No offense, Eddie.”

Eddie blinks. “Uh. Offense?”

“I didn’t intend that as an insult to your species.”

“Oh. Ha. Right. None taken. It’s pretty ridiculous.”

“I am glad you agree, then, and it isn’t my own ignorance that makes it seem so,” Thor says, rising from his stool. He puts a hand on the bar to hop over it like a pommel horse, then takes Eddie’s empty glass and refills it as he’s speaking. “Categorizing people based upon who they have sex with may make sense to humans, but it seems needlessly complicated to me. To be fair, though, all your mating customs seem complicated to me. For a species that spends so much time thinking about sex, you seem determined to make it difficult for yourselves to actually have any.”

“ **Eddie and I have sex often** ,” Venom says helpfully.

“Christ, V, can you not tell people that shit?” Eddie says, flushing rosy pink.

“Then he’s a credit to his species, Venom,” Thor declares, sliding Eddie’s full pint glass back to him, then leaning on the bar like a friendly bartender. “You become embarrassed very easily, Eddie.”

“No, I don’t,” Eddie rejoins, looking down into his ale to conceal his flushed cheeks. “It’s just…it’s private, is all.”

“Yes, you do!” Thor laughs merrily. “You’re blushing like a girl!”

“ **You do, Eddie**.”

Eddie stares resolutely into his drink, hoping the gesture might convince the earth to open and swallow him.

“Come now, Eddie, don’t hide,” Thor encourages, going to the tap to refill his own glass. “Pink is a good color on you.”

**He wants to have sex with you.**

“What? No he doesn’t,” Eddie hisses under his breath. “Shut the fuck up.”

Thor looks up from the tap. “What was that?”

**He does. His pupils have dilated and his heart rate has increased.**

“Hm? Nothing.”

**We should have sex with him.**

“V, I swear to the sweet lord baby Jesus—”

“So, Eddie, Venom,” Thor says, returning to sit beside them. “What do a Klyntar and his human do for fun on Earth? I mean, aside from fishing.”

“We don’t really…have much time for fun,” Eddie says. “Hunting and fishing are fun for V, but we have to do that to live.”

“ **Like to watch television** ,” Venom offers. “ **Learn much about humans**.”

“Television, huh?” Thor says musingly. “They put one in my chamber here, but—oh, hello.”

Eddie looks down to see Venom’s black tendrils snaking out of his clothing and coiling blithely about the Asgardian’s forearm.

“V, cut that shit out!” he exclaims. “I’m sorry. He doesn’t really understand personal space.”

“Nonsense, I don’t mind at all,” Thor says affably. “Klyntar don’t usually touch anything they don’t eat or bond with, though. Venom, you’re not going to try to eat me, are you? I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“ **Not eat you. Like you**.”

“I like you too, my friend,” Thor laughs, as more little tendrils curl out to prod him curiously. “Say, how would you like to try out the television in my room? It’s taking up nearly an entire wall and I’ve never used it.”

“You sure got my vote,” Eddie says drily. “It’s pretty much the only way to shut him up.”

“ **Yes. Want to try out television** ,” Venom rasps, eagerly retracting his head and tendrils.

Thus agreed, they drain their glasses, then follow Thor out of the lounge. Just down the hall is what he calls his room, but appears to Eddie to be some kind of small palace. It’s a penthouse style suite with floor-to-ceiling windows, a loft, a living room with a gas fireplace, and an enormous flat-screen television that does, indeed, cover nearly an entire wall.

Eddie seats himself stiffly on the dark-brown leather sofa, while Thor goes to the kitchen. He brings back a couple of bottles of beer with writing on the label in a language Eddie can’t read, but whatever it is, it’s delicious. Venom’s head emerges, and his black tentacles immediately seize on the remote control that is sitting on the coffee table.

“Oh, no, get that away from him,” Eddie warns. “He’s been watching fucking Grey’s Anatomy and driving me out of my damned mind.”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” Thor laughs, sitting beside them on the sofa.

“Oh, it _can_ be that bad. You have no idea.”

“Aw, but Eddie, can’t we let him watch what he wants?” Thor gestures to the demonic head protruding on a writhing tentacle from the base of Eddie’s skull, who is closely inspecting the rather complex control. “Look, he’s so adorable! How can you say no to that face?”

“Fine, but I warned you,” Eddie says resignedly, falling back against the cushions.

Venom looks eminently pleased with himself as he switches on the television and flicks rapidly through channels, till he comes to one on which a group of suspiciously heavily-made-up physicians are standing around what appears to Eddie to be a an eviscerated raspberry pie draped in blue medical linens.

“Look at that Venom, it’s on,” Thor says, smiling indulgently.

“Of course it’s on,” Eddie grumbles, taking a swig of his beer. “It’s always fuckin’ on.”

Venom’s head snakes out a little further toward the television, apparently deeply interested in whatever is going on between a male doctor who looks a little bit like a cartoon lemur, and a female doctor who looks a lot like a preternaturally young grandmother.

“I don’t really care for melodrama, either,” Thor says, turning to Eddie. “It’s making him so happy, though.”

“Yeah, it is,” Eddie says, thinking that this is probably the most he’s ever wanted to kiss someone in his entire life. “I guess I shouldn’t bitch so much.”

 **Yes. Kiss him, Eddie. Kiss him now**.

Not quite as laissez faire about preserving his life as his symbiote seems to desire, Eddie drains his beer instead, and leans forward to set the empty bottle on the glass coffee table. Without taking his eyes off the television, Thor lifts his arm and rests it along the back of the sofa, apparently opening his posture for Eddie to lean into, should he so choose. Heart pounding in his throat, Eddie sits back, letting his side just barely touch Thor’s.

He has to force himself to regulate his breathing as Thor’s arm settles across his shoulders, as easily and naturally as if they’ve been doing this for years. Eddie works his courage up to its highest point, and cautiously lets his head tilt back. Thor responds by slightly shifting position so that Eddie’s head can rest comfortably on his shoulder. Venom’s attention doesn’t move from his beloved medical drama, but a few black tendrils snake out from Eddie’s shirt and begin to coil lazily about Thor’s chest.

“What’s happening, Venom, I missed it,” Thor says. “Why is that man weeping?”

“ **His mate has taken another mate. He should simply remove his rival’s head and present it to her**.” Venom’s head wags disapprovingly to and fro. “ **Do not understand humans**.”

“Ha! Nor do I, my friend,” Thor says, giving Eddie a jocular little shake.

Unaccustomed to being touched by such a powerful and impossibly attractive being, Eddie’s energy is entirely devoted to his current state of hypervigilant tension, and so he can only manage a nervous smile in response.

Finally, however, he can no longer physically sustain this level of anxiety, and his body relaxes against Thor’s chest. After a few more minutes, his eyes fall closed and he sighs involuntarily. There is something so comforting and utterly human in this moment—albeit, of the three of them, one is human, one is an alien parasite who lives in his brain and spine, and one is an actual Norse god—that Eddie isn’t even aware of the first crack appearing in the ice beneath which he has buried his soul.

Ignorant and thus blissful, he sits in contented silence, with his head on Thor’s shoulder, half dozing and half listening as Thor asks Venom questions about the plot, and Venom answers them in his strangely literal way. His heart sinks as the show comes to an end. Now that he’s stopped panicking about it, this easy physical contact feels so good, he can’t bear the thought of getting up and going away.

But, he supposes, everything good ends sooner or later. They should probably try to find Natasha and figure out where their room is, anyway. He turns his head to say as much to Thor, at the same moment that Thor turns to look down at him.

Then the god of thunder is kissing him. His heart lurches and runs ragged. His head spins. His stomach does flips like a gymnast with vertigo. Thor’s surprisingly soft lips part his, and his warm tongue slides forward to caress Eddie’s. He tastes like the beer they’ve been drinking, and something aromatic and almost sweet. Eddie gives a soft groan in his throat.

Thor draws back immediately and looks into his face. “I should have asked permission. I apologize.”

“No, I just—don’t apologize,” Eddie says, sounding shaken. “Just, uh…am I awake?”

“I hope so, or I made a graver error than I thought.”

Apparently finding this interesting enough to draw him away from the television, Venom’s forehead butts into the back of Eddie’s neck.

“ **Like kissing. Feels good** ,” he purrs, throwing more tendrils about Thor’s chest and neck, trying to tug them back together. “ **Kiss more**.”

“It’s up to your human, V,” Thor says, keeping his grey eyes fixed on Eddie’s. “Would you be interested in having sex with a third partner, Eddie? Specifically me?”

“ **Yes**.”

“Uh…”

“I’ll take that as a maybe,” Thor laughs.

“I—I uh…” Eddie stammers. “I don’t…are you fucking with me?”

“No,” Thor grins. “But I could be, if you’re game.”

“You want to…with me and Venom?” Eddie asks, utterly bewildered. “Why?”

“Why does that surprise you so much?” Thor counters. “I’ve been flirting with you all day. And you must know how attractive you are. You have mirrors and eyes, correct?”

“No,” Eddie says stupidly.

“No…to which part?”

“I don’t know.” Eddie sits forward and wrings his hands anxiously. “For one thing, V is…you know, non-humanoid and super fucking terrifying, and I assumed that might not be a thing you were into.”

“Think again, my friend. He may be scary here on Earth, where contact with other life forms is extremely limited, but the rest of the universe is more open-minded.”

“ **Eddie thinks he is unappealing as a sexual partner** ,” Venom interjects. “ **Your kinds are physically similar. Tell him he is incorrect**.”

“You are incorrect, Eddie.”

“ **See, Eddie**?”

“It’s not about how I look,” Eddie blurts out, prodded into an honest answer. “I know…what I look like. But I’m kind of a complete fuckup. I’ve found a way to ruin every good thing I ever had, I mean, I don’t even know why V stays with me. I’m just…a loser.”

“You are not a loser, Eddie,” Thor replies flatly. “And if you want to talk about complete fuckups, there is no way you’re any match for me.”

In spite of his discomfiture, Eddie laughs outright. “You expect me to believe that, Thor Son of Odin, Prince of Asgard, and god of thunder?”

“You left off protector of Midgard,” Thor says. “And do you know how many times Earth has almost been destroyed since this realm was placed under my guardianship? Seventeen. Seventeen separate times. And a few of those times, I wasn’t even the one who prevented it. My mother is dead because I wasn’t there to save her, my brother hates me—and also might be dead, I’m not sure—and my father is so disappointed in me, that he will hardly speak to me. He didn’t even remember that today is my birthday.”

“Shit.” Eddie pauses thoughtfully. “Ok, so maybe I don’t have it so bad.”

“Yeah. Maybe not.”

“It’s your birthday? And you spent all day hanging out with us?”

“It is and I did.”

Eddie smiles slyly. “Wow, you…really are a loser.”

“Oh, Eddie, ouch,” Thor says, clutching his chest above his heart. “I bare my soul and you use it to cut me deep. I’m wounded.”

“No, no, I like knowing that about you,” Eddie continues chirpily. “I can’t see myself sleeping with Thor the god of thunder, but Thor the loser fuckup is different.”

Thor pulls a serious face and grasps Eddie’s hand. “Oh, I am, Eddie. I am a total loser, I swear.”

“Ooh, baby,” Eddie laughs. “Talk dirty to me.”

Venom looks back and forth between them, perplexed, flicking and curling his prehensile tongue.

“You want to know the reason I came here today?” Thor says, taking Eddie’s other hand. “No one else remembered my birthday, either.”

“Yeah, that’s so hot,” Eddie says, laughing harder.

“Oh, and you know how I had a human girlfriend?” Thor leans close, attempting a sultry whisper, which is broken up by his own laughter. “It wasn’t mutual at all. She dumped me. In a _letter_.”

“That’s it, you win,” Eddie gasps through his mirth. “I can’t _not_ fuck you now.”

“Are we still joking?” Thor asks, squinting at him suspiciously. “I really, really hope not.”

Eddie responds by pulling him into a sloppy kiss, which they both laugh into, before it quickly shifts into something more intense. Venom, eager to experience the full potency of Eddie’s endorphins, retracts his head back inside, as the Asgardian and his host kiss one another with increasing urgency.

Eddie laughs again as Thor lifts him off the couch, as easily as one would lift a housecat. Eddie has been laughing a lot this evening. Venom hasn’t heard him do this since before SHIELD took them. It feels good. Feels warm and light at the same time. The good kinds of those things, like Eddie’s warmth and his heartbeat.

Thor is carrying them up the stairs to the loft area, now, where there is a large bed covered in plush, grey and black linens. He sets Eddie down on the edge and pulls his shirt off over his head. Eddie kisses and strokes his chiseled abdomen as he unfastens his fly, then moves to the center of the bed, watching while he removes his pants. Venom feels Eddie’s heart pound as Thor kneels over them, then lowers his body onto Eddie’s to kiss and touch him.

Venom doesn’t remove the clothes he has made for Eddie yet, partly because Eddie hasn’t signaled for him to do so, and partly because he can feel Thor’s body brushing and pressing against the membranes, and it is sending pleasant tingling sensations all through him. His skin is very different from Eddie’s. It’s smoother and less pliant to the touch, like it’s made of something much stronger and more durable, which of course, it is. The muscles moving beneath it are different, too. Less like meat and more like thick cables made of some indestructible metal. Venom prefers Eddie’s skin and musculature, but decides that he likes Thor’s, too.

As Thor’s hand slides down his abdomen, Venom peels Eddie’s shirt away, letting their bare chests press against one another, then retracts Eddie’s pants, as well. Eddie gives a little groan as Thor takes them both in his hand to stroke them together. Thor’s cock is a bit longer and  thicker than Eddie’s, and the head is mostly covered by a sheath of thin skin, which Venom has seen in photographs. He likes Eddie’s better, with its round, ruddy head fully exposed, and wonders if this difference is inherited, or if Eddie’s has been altered for aesthetic purposes.

At an impulse from Eddie, he sends a thin, black tendril coiling up around the base of his cock, twining it slowly around Thor’s as well. Thor takes his hand away and watches, as more come up and wrap around his cock and Eddie’s, pressing them against each other and encasing them entirely in a tight, slick-black sheath. He curses under his breath as Venom begins to move up and down their shafts, squeezing and stroking them teasingly.

“Looks like V wants to fuck, too,” Eddie says hoarsely. “That ok?”

“It’s—ha! yes. You both feel so good,” Thor pants. “I need—a moment.”

“V, hold still a sec,” Eddie says, and Venom does.

While the god of thunder gets his bearings, Venom slides a thick tendril up his thigh, which splits into many smaller ones. One, he wraps snugly around the base of his cock behind his testicles, and the others coil about his waist, chest, and neck, like a writhing black harness. With so much contact, Venom can now feel the endorphins pouring out of him, as well. He guesses the two species must share quite a bit of chemistry, because the tastes and sensations are almost identical to those coming from Eddie.

“ _Fuck me_ ,” Eddie murmurs, reaching out to touch Thor’s broad hard pectoral muscles, accentuated by the black straps made of symbiote. “That’s so fucking hot, Christ.”

“It’s not a bad look,” Thor grins. “I see why you wear it so often.”

Eddie, seeming to have found his courage suddenly, takes hold of the Venom harness and pulls the Asgardian down on top of him, kissing and caressing him feverishly. In the interest of speeding things along, Venom pushes a thick, blunt tendril into Eddie’s asshole. Eddie bucks his hips reflexively, which makes Thor shudder give a little moan. He pulls away enough to look down into Eddie’s face and begins to rock his hips. Eddie does the same. 

Venom’s mind whirls, intoxicated by their mutual pleasure and the cascade of sensory feedback coming from both their bodies. He is hazily aware of Thor’s muscles tensing and his heart-rate increasing dramatically. He’s nearing his peak. Venom thrums his tendril over Eddie’s prostate, sending jolts of stimulation up his spine, and quickly closing the gap. They hold onto each other, gazing fixedly into each other’s eyes, breathing in unison as they fuck into Venom’s slick, sucking membrane together.

Beads of sweat begin to roll down their foreheads, as their thrusts become more rapid and erratic, until in a sudden, mind-obliterating explosion of sensory input, they both come. Their cocks spasm and spurt bursts of hot fluid into the tight sheath of Venom, as he is inundated with the flood of pleasure chemicals. Reeling and nearly insensible, he manages to suck up their mingled semen through his membranous hide, then drunkenly disengages.

Thor collapses beside Eddie, laughing breathlessly, and wraps his arms around him. Venom drags his mass together and flops on top of their naked bodies like a gelatinous sheet, short-circuited with bliss. They kiss and talk to each other, and he is content to bask in their warmth, listening to their soft, low voices and wriggling happily when they pet and stroke him. After a long while, he feels Eddie fall asleep.

Venom’s head emerges cautiously, and rests on Thor’s chest facing Eddie. Thor reaches up and lazily strokes his slick-black skin as he lies there, gazing into his beloved’s face. Unlike his usual fitful, troubled sleep, or the dead unconsciousness his other puts him into from necessity, Eddie is sleeping naturally and peacefully. He is so beautiful like this. If Venom knew how to weep, he thinks he would at this moment. Instead, he snakes out a small tendril and lays it gently on Eddie’s cheek.

His darling is so wounded, so torn with rage and pain. Sometimes he is aware of it slowly creeping into him too, to poison his own mind, like a wasting disease. They need so badly to be healed, but Eddie will not even admit they are sick. Revenge will feel good and right, but will not heal them. It will make Eddie sicker. Might even kill them both.

“You are afraid for him,” Thor says softly.

“ **Afraid, yes**.”

“You think he’s losing the fight, and letting the darkness take over.”

“ **Yes** ,” Venom says, lifting his head to look at the Asgardian. “ **How do you know this**?”

“I see it in your face. How you look at him, they way you talk to him. It’s like…he’s dragging you somewhere you don’t want to go, but you’d rather die than leave him, so you have no choice but to follow and hope he comes around before it’s too late.”

“ **Eddie is good** ,” Venom rumbles menacingly. “ **A hero. You do not know**.”

“I know Klyntar don’t choose just anyone to bond with,” Thor says. “The few I have heard of who were so fortunate were great warriors and heroes of their people. More than that, I have lived many lifetimes of his kind. I have seen more men born, grown old, and laid to rest than I can count. I know a good man when I see one. Eddie is a good man.”

“ **He is** ,” Venom rasps, relaxing somewhat.

“But even good men stumble, Venom. He needs you to keep him from falling entirely.”

“ **Try. Will keep trying**.”

“Good. Whatever happens, don’t give up on him.”

“ **Never give up on Eddie. Never. Love him**.”

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
